At the top of his game
Glut of awards shows that arif’s in a class of his own
KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) Arif Aiman Hanapi seems to have no peers in the local football arena as the striker was once again crowned as the Most Valuable Player for the third consecutive year at the 2023 National Football Awards (ABK23) on Monday night.
The 21-year-old was simply in a class of his own throughout the season, winning numerous titles with JDT and his exceptional performances have earned him a clean sweep of all four prestigious titles offered during the awards ceremony.
Apart from the MVP, the Pahang-born player was voted as the Best Striker, Best Young Player and scorer of the Best Goal of the season - the goal against Perak during their Malaysia Cup semi-final clash.
Arif also shared the top scorer’s award for local players with Faisal Halim, with both having scored 12 goals each throughout the season.
Meanwhile, as expected, winning the 10th consecutive Super League title saw JDT walk away with the Best Team award and to cap a memorable night, JDT players also walked away with three other awards.
Apart from Arif and Southern Tigers hogging the limelight, JDT’S Ahmad Syihan Hazmi also took home the Best Goalkeeper Award while Mohd Afiq Fazail was awarded the Best Midfielder Award and Bergson Da Silva walked away with the Best Import Player Award.
Terengganu won the Fair Play award while their midfielder Mohd Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili was voted the Best Player and Mohd Azam Azmi Murad took the Best Defender Award.
The Best Coach Award went to former Selangor coach Tan Cheng Hoe while Ayron Del Valle was adjudged as the Super League’s Top Scorer.
Kedah striker Ebenezer Kofi Assifuah-inkoom clinched the MFL Trophy as the top scorer after having scored 16 goals. — Bernama